Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1887-01-31
CHRISTIANITY No CHEAT.
THE TRUE RELIGION FREE
FROM ANY SHAM.

! The King of Babylon's Hesthenish
Modes of DivInatior-Peopl Who
! D~nounce tho Christian Religion as
the Most Stupendous Deluston uf the
Ages and the Answer to the Charge.
BROOKLYN, Jan. 30.-At the Taber-
nacle this morning the Rev. T. Dewitt
| Talmage, DID,, baptized by immersion a
number OF persons who preferred that
mode, as, on the Sunday previous, he had
bapuzed by sprinkling those who so de-
sired. Prof. Browne, the organist, rem
dered the Sonata In & minor by Rhein-
berger. The opening hymn, sung by the
whole congregation, was that beginning:
80 happy day that fixed my cholco
| On thee, my Saviour and my God"
| After reading another list of those W no
during the week had united with the
church DR.. Talmage discussed the sub
ject: "Is the Christian Religion Cheat?"
| His text was: "He made his arrows
bright, he consulted with Images, he
| looked in the liyer."-Ezekiel vXi., u.
| the preacher said:
Two modes of djvGation by which the King
! Of Babylon proposed 10 find out the Will of
/ God. He toOk a bundle OF arrows, put them
| together, mixed them up, then pulled form
/ one, and by the inscription on 10 deCded what
| CITY he should first a .sault. Then an animal
was slain, and by the lighter or darker color
| of the liver the brighter or, darker prospect
| OF success was inferred That is the meaning
| of the text: "He made his arrows bright, he
consulted with images, he looked in the
| liver"
Stupid delusiou! And yet all the ages have
| been filled with deluslOns. 1t seems as If the
world loves to be hoodwinked, the delusIon of
the text only specimen of a vast number
| OF deceits practiced upon The human race. Ia
| the latter part OF the last century johanna
| Southcote came forth pretending to have
| divine power, made prophecies. had chapels
| built in her honor. and 100000 disciples came
| forth to follow her. About five wears before
the birth Of Christ, Apolonius was born. and
| he came forth, and after five years being
| speeches. according to the tradition, he
| healed the SICK and raised the dead, and
preached virtue. and, according TO the myth.
| having deceased, was brought TO resurreC-
ton.
The Delphlc Oracle deceived vast multi
| tudes of people; the z thJness seated IN the
| Temple of AppOlo usterlng crazy argon
| from which the people guessed VneIr midi
| vdual or national fortunes OF mlsfortunes.
| Ihe utterdnces were OF such nAture that
| you could read them any way YOU wanted
to read them. general gong forth to
| battle consulted the Deiphc oracle and he
| wanted 30 find out whether he was gong to
| be safe in the battle or KILLED In the battle
ana the answer came forth from the Delphc
| oracle in such words thar. II you put the
comma before the word never, ." it means
one thing, ana if put The comma afler the
wood never" 1t means another thlng just
opposite. The message from the Delphic
| oracle to the general was: "GO forth,
return never N DAttle shalt though perish. -
If he was hi ed, that WAS according to the
Delphic Oracle. If he came home sately that
was according 10 the DelphIC Oracle. So The
ancient auguries deceived the people. The
priests of those auguries by the flight of birds.
or by tine lntonaIon of thunder. or by the
inside appearance Of SLAIN amin ais, told the
fortunes or mistortuues Of individuals or ma
tons. The slbyis deceived the people. The
olbyls were supposed to be inspired women
who lived in caves AMI who wrote the
slbylline books alterward purchased
by Tarqun the Proud. So late as the
year 1923. man arose in New
\ ork, pretending to be divine being, and
playing his part 20 well that wealthy m5r-
chants became his disciples anu threw their
fortunes INTO his dsclpiesnip. And so in all
ages, there have been necromancies, incanta-
| uons, WItchCraits. 40 Cerles, magical arts,
entertainments, divlnations and delusions
The one of the text WAS only a specimen OF
that which has been transpITlng IN all ages OF
the world. None OF these deluslons accom-
| pllshed any good. Ihey deceived, they pau
perized the people, they were rs cruel as they
were absurd. They opened no hospitals, they
healed no wounds, they wiped away no tears,
they emancipated no eerfdOm.
But there are those who say that all these
delusiOns combined are as nothing compared
with the delusIon now abroad IN the world.
the delusiOn OF the Christian religion. That
delusiOn has o-day 2O0,00O,000 dupes. 1t pro-
poses TO enclrcle the earth with its kirdc
That which has been called deuson mas
already overshatOwed the Appalachian
range on TINS side 'he sea, ana IL has over
| shadOwed the Balkan and Caucasian ranges
on the other eide tie sea. IL has conquered
England and the UnIed states. THIS cham
pion delusiOn, This hoax, this swindie OF the
ages, as 1t has been called. has gone forth 10
conquer the islands OF the Pacific; the Melan-
asia and the Micronesia and
Malayan POLYNESIA have already sur
| dprpd fO the GpluEiCD Yea
| conquered the Indian Archipelago; and Bor-
neo, and Sumatra and Ccicbes and Java have
fallen under It's Wiies. In the FIJI Islands,
| where there are l2OOO1 people, 100000 nave
| already become the dupes of this Christian
| rel igiOn, and il tn mas 20 on Hs they are now
going on, and II the influence OF this great
| hallucinatiOn of the ages cannot be stopped, J.,
II will swallow the globe. Supposing then,
that Christianity is the delusiOn oil the cen
turtles, as some have pronounced 1t, | pro-
| pose this morning TO show You what has bee ID
accom- plished Dy this cnimera, this faiacy,
this hoax this swlnd c of the ages.
And IN the first place, remark that this
delu-ion Of the Christian religion has made
wonderful Transformation. OF human chdrac-
ter. | viii 20 down the aisle Of any church IN
ChristeHdOm and will fnd on either side
that aisle those who were once pronl-
gate, prof. ane, unclean OF speech and
unclean OF action, drunken and lost
But by the power OF TINS deiusion OF the
CHRISTIAN religion they have been completely
transformed, aud now they are kind and
amIable and genial ana loving and useful.
Evcrybody sees the change Under the power
of this great hallucinatiOn they have quit their
former associates. and whereas tncy once
found their chief delight among those who
gambled and swOre and raced horses, now
they hud their chief joy among those who 60
to prayer meetings and churches; 30
complete Is the delUslOn. Yea, their
own families have noticed 1t
the wife has noticed II, the children have
notice IL. The money that went for rum
now goes for books and for clothes and for
education. He IL Il uew man. All whJ know
hm say there mas been wonderful change.
what ia the cause Of this change; THIS great
! hauucination OF the Chrl-tlan religion.
There Is rs much d Inference between what he
Is now and what he once was, a. between a
rose and nettle, rs between dove and a
vulture, AS between day and night.
| Tremendous deuslou!
! Admiral Farragut, one Of the most ad-
mired men of the American navy, carly be-
came victim OF TINS Christian delusion,
and, seated. not long before his death, at
Long Branch, he was giving some friends an
account Of his early life He said:
MY father went down IN behalf OF the
United states government to put an end 10
Aaron Burr's rebellion. | was a cabin boy
and went along with him. | cOnld swear Ike
an old salt. ] could gamble IN every style of
gambling. knew all the wlCkedness there
was At that time abroad. One day my father
cleared everybody out OF the cabin except
myself. and locked the door. Ile said!
| David, what are YOU going to dO2 What are
you going to beY Well 1 said, father. am
gong to follow the sea- Follow the sea! and
he a poor. miserable, drunken sailor, kicked
and cutfed about the world and die Of FEVER